Sunday, June 30, 2013

Review Double Feature: The Purge and Kingdom Life II V6.6


I gotta say, it's been a slow week. For games? No, but pretty much my laziness. So, to solve that, we're going to be doing a double review on two front page games. One of them is a medieval role play, and the other is what I assume a mediocre horror game. Before you ask yes I will go back to spotlighting and reviewing good games next week, it's just that I'd like to get these out of the way now. Anyway, onto the reviews!

The Purge (now with a beautifully edited cover)










The Purge at first glance is one of those generic games you always see on the front page, usually with a name like "scream attacks your house!!" with a picture of scream on it ripped from google likely. Even though I don't exactly want to play this game, we must proceed on.

Gameplay
Upon entering the game, you're spawned into what looks like a hide'n'seek lobby which contains 2 floors, some givers to buy things like invisible torso, walkspeed etc. Also some colored spheres that can change colors upon being clicked. Needless to say upon entering the game I was a bit confused, then it suddenly all made sense. "The Purge" was pretty much a hide and seek game, in which the rounds are "Purges", and one person is chosen as the "Killer". Funny enough the Killer was asking people that wanted to be in a video and after successfully evading him I pretty much just left the game, but besides the point.

Building
Just out of curiousity I looked into the owner's models and found that it appears that MOST of the game was built and scripted by the owner, which I find surprising at the least. So kudos to them..?

Creativity
A game based off the Purge would be an interesting premise, although it would have to be outside the vein of the movie since the "people inside the house running from the killer" thing is pretty darned boring..
This game sort of took that idea, but made it into a hide and seek game, which isn't a bad place to start I suppose.

Overall
The Purge is pretty much your run of the mill hide and seek game in which the players have to run from a "killer" and hide in the shadows of the map to avoid sight. It's quite easy if you take advantage of the darkest places in the maps thanks to the dynamic lighting. Although, it is a good first game for the creator if they really did hand-make most of this, now they just need to expand the concept and it should get better from there.

Kingdom Life ll V6.6













Well doesn't this look awfully familiar, Kingdom Life II, where have I seen that before.. Oh right, Boopbot's game which pretty much dropped off the front page along with Boopbot who hasn't been seen since April. Let's take a look at the description here..  
"[*[Credit to Boopbot for the map and older morphs. Permission to edit the game.]*]"
That already says something, place copier is off the list, onto the actual game.

Gameplay
If you've played Kingdom Life II before it's pretty much the same but with dynamic lighting, new morphs, and a new area or two. For those that aren't familiar with Kingdom Life II it's a medieval roleplay game that allows you to pick your morph and roam around a pretty nicely built area, and roleplay of course. It seems to be just the same game but slightly updated, but they aren't exactly for the best..

Building
The real issue in the game comes from the additions the creator has made to the map, while they ARE updates they stick out like a sore thumb compared to the original game's content, which had a simple, but detailed building style that made it nice to look at. But most of the new morphs pretty much ignore the style the original game had, most notably in the "mutants" section. Dynamic lighting looks nice though.

Creativity
A medieval roleplay game isn't that much new, this is pretty much a game with some addons to it.

Overall
Kingdom Life II is somewhat a step in the right direction, the creator just needs to learn to create additions to the game that don't mess with the style that had been introduced while Boopbot was building it. It's not bad by any means if you've never played Kingdom Life II, but you'd probably be better off playing Boopbot's version.

Final Thoughts/Outro

Well, I can't exactly say either of these games are "bad". The Purge is just a hide-and-seek game that while is  good for beinh mostly(?) hand made, the concept could be worked on quite a bit. Kingdom Life II needs another look taken at it so the creator can keep his new additions consistent with the building style of the old game.
I'm pleasantly surprised I guess you could say, even if they aren't the best games ever.

Although next week I'm gonna be sure to get a new spotlight and review out.


Gear Review: Cheifjustus Gavel

Hello! Pbjms here with another gear review. This time I'll be reviewing the new independence day gear, dedicated to Cheifjustus, the Cheifjustus Gavel.

Chiefjustus Gavel
"Dispense justice for all with this oversized justice gavel. Dispense justice even faster with it's secret moves! Not unlike a ban hammer if I do say so myself..."

Mesh

This mesh is really nice. It looks like an ordinary gavel, used to call for different court commands from the judge. Well, it's not. It's a huge gavel, probably about the size of your robloxian. In-game, you even have to use two hands to hold it. The handle comes to a point that looks kind of like a drumstick,  and the larger part has two circular ends. Looks like a real, oversized gavel to me, so it gets a 10/10.


Texture

The texture is also nice, the gavel really shows it's United States spirit. The center of the larger part is blue with a line of stars, surrounded by lines of red and blue. On each end is a star lined with blue. The gavel itself is plain brown, with shadows to make it pop. Honestly, it seems a little plain to me. There could have been more stars and stripes to really get the United States feel to it. The gavel looks nice, but a bit plain, I'll give it a 9/10.

Ability

This gavel is amazing. There are three different attacks, normal slam, jump slam, and the spin attack. The normal slam just has your character raise the gavel into the air, and then slam it to the ground. This attack does 100% damage, killing your enemy instantly. The jump slam occurs when you double-click your mouse. You jump high into the air, and then fall down with the gavel ready to slam to the ground. Red, white, and blue stripes fall from the gavel as you fall. This attack does 30% damage, though if your enemy just stands there, you can most likely kill him/her in one smash. The spin attack occurs when you press and hold the 'q' key. You spin around in a circle, with your gavel held out. Each hit to your enemy does about 10% damage. The one problem with the spin attack is that your character can sometimes get stuck in "auto-spin-mode" as I call it, where you just randomly spin around. 10/10 for sure.

Price

This gavel is priced at 1,500 Robux, it is also timed, set to go off-sale around July 4th, 7:00 Eastern Standard Time, which is about 6 days after it was made, and it is also Independence Day. At the time this was written, it has about 500 sales, less than a day after it was made. At this rate, it will have about 2,500 sales when it goes off-sale, if it goes limited, it may not do so well. 1,500 Robux is pretty expensive, but the gear is really nice. If it goes limited, it may not be that great of an investment, so I'm giving this category a 8/10.

Compared to.. (9/10)


Bling Shades

Bling Shades

These shades were made in 2011, and have about 2,400 sales. So they aren't that big with the community, plus they aren't the greatest looking. These are defiantly worse than the gavel.

Air Strike
Airstrike


This gear was made about 10 months ago, and has about 7,000 sales. It lets you call in an airstrike to drop bombs on your enemies if they are within the area sellected. It's a great gear, but it's easy to dodge the strike. These are probably worse than the gavel, but not by far.

Korblox General

Korblox General

Korblox General is a package in 2011. It is a classic korbloxian package, and looks nice for roleplayers. I'm going to say this is a bit better than the gavel.

Overall: 9/10

This is a great, overpowered gear. It looks nice, and goes great with an independence day look. Compared to other items with the same price this gear is probably one of the best.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Hat Review: Starlight Shades

Starlight Shades
Starlight Shades
Mesh/Texture - 8/10
The mesh is just another simple-looking shades mesh. Can't really describe any special attribute to it. The texture, though, looks quite cool. The lens of the shades are covered in stars, making it look like space. The rim of the shades alternates between black and a sort of turqoise color and looks very shiny. I gave it an 8/10 because...well, there are already more than 50 "shades" on roblox. Lack of originality.

Price: 10/10
The Starlight Shades were priced originally at 100 robux, a good price for a pair of shades, and stocked at 2500 in existence. Being shades, a high-demanded type of item, they were obviously going to profit. They started raising fast, going to prices of 500 robux or more, and settled at a price of around 300 after the sale ended. Small profit, but profit either way.

Overall: 9/10
Although released as a ridiculous time, these shades were priced well, stocked well, and profited as expected by most users. They probably won't be raising any time soon, so if you're getting them, get them for the looks, not the money.


Steampunk Pirate Hat Review


Steampunk Pirate

“With science, ideas can germinate within a bed of theory, form, and practice that assists their growth... But we as gardeners, must beware... for some seeds are the seeds of ruin... and the most iridescent blooms are often the most dangerous” 

Mesh- 10/10 The mesh is perfect for any steampunk hat, it is just a little small on your character. It looks like half a cog, and has little gears in the middle.

Texture- 9/10 The colors match steampunk and pirates well together, but I don’t see much of an ‘eroded’ feel on this hat. Also, the maroon band at the bottom offsets the texture a little bit.

Other- 10/10 This hat is a cheap R$175. It goes good with almost anything steampunk (especially monocles and goggles), plus there are many good shirts for it. I would recommend buying if you are a steampunk fan.

Overall- 10/10 Being a great steampunk hat, this pirate accessory sports a great airship commander look, and for a cheap price. 
 

-RayMan36

Friday, June 28, 2013

Place Review: Undead Nation by Ninjaxrasx

We all thought it had ended. We were the last six remaining and we all thought it was over. Humanity as we knew it was dead. Had it really gone away? We hear a noise of moaning in the night, was it from another human species? Or was it from a species unknown ready to murder us all? We found out too late....

[FIXED CHAPTER 8] Undead Nation V1.7.8_Image










Undead Nation, an intense first person shooter with an additional apocalyptic scene - this game does not disappoint. We find ourselves in a lobby awaiting a new game to begin, with six people needed to begin. This is a co-op game of intense zombie killing action! We are treated with pleasant music and what not to await our battle. Someone votes for a chapter to begin at, and yes; this has a story behind it. We are in a cave walking on a ledge avoiding a tragic death... Well, trying to avoid it. You have to try and discover any clues that lead to the end of the Chapter.*

Our team had lost players slowly, but ever so slowly to a sudden fall to death. But, they came back. They found their way back up! Zombies kept on creeping up to us slowly but dangerously, eating away at our flesh. Why on earth would they do this to us? Nobody knows! This game became super intense when we were in the Radio Tower fighting waves of Zombies that were after us, trying to eat away at us. After all of that travelling trying to discover clues as to what could possibly open up a door behind us in order to let us in, gone to waste. I ended up dying a painful death with so much infected flesh, I couldn't live on...

So, there we were, shooting Zombies until we were all dead. Finding our way out of an apocalyptic area with almost no escape route in sight. Humanity had been lost... Forever....

The Verdict: 
Scripting: 10/10. Probably one of the best quality scripting I've ever seen. I haven't seen waves of Zombies like that in a while, and that's saying something. It's just.. How do I put this wisely... OPPA ZAKARY STYLE! (Yes, I made that reference, what are you going to do? Eat me alive? Oh please!)

Tools: 10/10. Necessary tools provided for fighting the hoard of Zombies. Guns, swords, etc, all are included just to help you kill a Zombie or two. Fun right?

Building: 10/10. Built with the simple Stamper. Expertly utilized to create the scene of fright and despair, but to also accommodate to the need for action. Excellent job.

Community Enjoyment: 10/10. Currently at the front page with nearly 1 million visits and over 2,000 thumbs up. People take their gaming seriously in this one. They almost take it as seriously as I do with competitive gaming...

Originality: 3/10. Not so original in the Zombie world, but its story line is original. So, I'd give it a decent score because of its story line.

Deals with Problems: 10/10. I didn't deal with any problems. I doubt anyone else did as well.

Reviewer's Experience with Lag: 10/10. No lag experienced on my end.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard. It can get hard and can be medium. Only for the people who have quick reflexes.

Reviewer's Enjoyment: 10/10. LOVED IT SO MUCH!

Reviewer's Recommendation: Highly. This game is probably one of the best Zombie survival games I've seen so far. I know.. (Apocalypse Rising) don't bug me about that game. This has potential to go places, far places. Even Hollywood.

Thumbnail's Review: 10/10. There's a bunch of them, the one above is good and eerie.

Scenery: 10/10. Eerie in a way to both frighten and encourage.

Overall: 9.5/10. I really enjoyed the game. When I died, I got so mad I yelled in real life! :) Go and play this now!!!

*There are far more chapters than the one explained above.

Play this game here.

Help! The Zombies are finishing off the remainder of humanity as we know it! It's up to us.. the final six to finish them off. We have to work together and finish them all off, and restore humanity to its old form! Oh no... THE ZOMBIES ARE COMING! Quick... take out your weapons... This is going to be epic...

~Dx

Thursday, June 27, 2013

A Midsummer Night's Sale Overview!

ROBLOX once again did another sale, this one more unexpected than previous sales. In a Midsummer Night's Sale, the theme of the sale seemed to be many night-themed limiteds. Except, this sale was very different from previous sales, as it had no user retextures and every item came out either late night or early morning. Each hour a new item would come out, and sometimes the wait was worth it, sometimes not. I'll admit the timing was not the best for this sale, as it became really tiring just staying up for limiteds plus it's not really good to stay up all night. The bigger items were released right around the morning, so there were many who raged about staying up. Anyways, this sale however did have much more profit than previous sales.

Green Starface  

The first item to come out was the Green Starface, the first of the starface series. It was at the cheap price of 50 robux, but was overstocked at 15000 in stock. It sold out the next day and it isn't profiting much.

Starlight Shades

After an entire hour of lag and site crashes because people were refreshing the site for limiteds, two more items came out (probably to make up the item that was supposed to come out an hour after the Green Starface, because ROBLOX said that on twitter). The Starlight Shades were 100 robux and had only 2500 in stock, so they sold out pretty quickly. The shades aren't making much profit now.

Sleepy Owl Friend

The Sleep Owl Friend came out right after the Starlight Shades, and was 250 robux. This was a night exclusive, and went offsale right after midnight. However, this hat didn't seem to be very popular with users, as less than 1000 were sold.

Shooting Star

One hour later came midnight. Users in the Lets Make a Deal forum were expecting the Midnight Blue Sparkle Time Fedora, which the texture was leaked earlier (and soon the item id would be leaked) because it has the word "midnight" in it. The forumers were disappointed to discover that the only thing that came out at midnight was a Shooting Star. BrightEyes also confirmed that it won't come out until three more hours, and it probably won't be 10,000 robux. However, Shedletsky also said that BrightEyes might be trolling. Anyways, the Shooting Star was 25 robux and was confirmed to go limited the next day. It went limited, and with about 6000 in stock it has made some good small profit.

Midnight Blue Shaggy

The next item to come out was the Midnight Blue Shaggy, a item that was 1000 robux with 500 in stock and made extreme unexpected profit. It is now worth around 30,000 robux, and the owners have been making great profit trading it!

Midnight Blue Sparkle Time Fedora

One hour later, the long awaited Midnight Blue Sparkle Time Fedora came out at 50,000 robux with the normal 100 in stock. This was to prevent a quick-sellout and botters (though honestly if you had 50,000 robux you could probably still have botted it). It did do a good job however at preventing botters. Many users were disappointed because they saved up 10000 robux to buy it, and this Sparkle Time Fedora is considered to have the worst texture of any Sparkle Time. (It's literally an inversion of the Sparkle Time Fedora texture; not much effort.) However like any Sparkle Time it has made massive profit.

Tennis Racket

The first gear for the sale, the Tennis Racquet, came out an hour later for 250 robux. This gear allows you to smash the racquet into other players heads, for some comical fun.

Cool Moon Shades

Next up was the Cool Moon Shades, which were only 100 robux and timed. These shades are a bit big, but look somewhat bluesteel-ish and are good for combos.

Blue Starface

After the shades came the next starface, the Blue Starface. This one was only 100 robux but had 7500 in stock, making it once again overstocked. It has made a small profit, but not much.

Oberon Guardia

The next hat was the Oberon Guardia, a nice blue re-color of the classic Guardia Helm. It was only 250 robux and nonlimited. 

Chalk Sword

The Chalk Sword came out an hour after the Oberon Guardia, nonlimited and priced only at 450 robux. This sword functions like a normal sword but it has a second function; you can switch between sword mode and drawing mode.

Purple Starface

Next up was the final starface, the Purple Starface. This starface was finally stocked right, as it was only 150 robux with 1000 in stock. It quickly sold out and raised to 2,000 robux, but has now dropped to 1,000 robux. It profited massively compared to the other starfaces.

Instant Treehouse

An hour afterwards came the Instant Treehouse, arguably my favorite of the Midsummer gears (and also the most popular among users). It only costed 300 robux, and with it you can spawn a giant treehouse that you can walk into! It's fun to mess around with in games and spawn tons of treehouses, which is why I like this gear.

Royal Faerie Wings

Next up was the long awaited Royal Faerie Wings, a nice admin made retexture of the Faerie Wings. These wings were limited with 1000 in stock and only 1000 robux. They sold out extremely quick and raised up to 3000 robux, but are now 2000 robux. These wings were another great source of profit for investors. 

Human Rocket

The last gear, called the Human Rocket, came out for 600 robux. This gear allows you to drop a rocket, and whoever steps onto it is flung into the air and comes down on a parachute.

ROBLOX Hexagon Headphones

These ROBLOX Hexagon Headphones were the last item of the sale, limited at only 100 robux with 3000 in stock. They did small profit and were a good, unexpected final item for the sale.

Even though this sale required staying up really late, it was probably the best sale yet for investors and (hopefully) this is the end of the Sparkle Time series. Rumors are spreading that there will be another sale on July 4th, so I'd advise you to save up some robux. Even if there isn't a sale, there's still bound to be limiteds. Also, try to have at least 2,000 robux or more to get the rest of the profitable summer limiteds ROBLOX releases every once in awhile.

- NonstopEpic, Catalog Manager


Instant Treehouse Review

Hello! Pbjms here with (I believe) my first gear review! Today I will be reviewing Instant Treehouse, a gear created during A Mid-Summer Night's Sale in the later morning.
Instant Treehouse

"Part of the fun of summer is hanging out 24/7. Now you have a place to hang out wherever you go."

Mesh: 9/10

The mesh is great. It's a tree with a nice little house on it with a ladder leading up the the house. The house is built on a deck which you can walk all the way around (possibly to hide in a gear fighting place). The ladder isn't great, though. The rungs are about "one robloxian" apart, so it would be impossible to climb up the way robloxians climb. Besides the ladder, it really looks nice, lots of leaves on the trees, a nice, thick, trunk, and a cozy little house to top it all off.

Texture: 9/10

The texture is okay but it's really not the best. The treehouse looks really nice, obviously made of wood with a nice blue roof. The wood part of the tree also looks nice, many different colors and shadows to really make it pop. The leaf part, though, is awful. Random splashes of different shades of green, and random white dots, along with obvious folds showing where the texture changes. It just looks awful.

Ability: 8/10

I have a lot to talk about with the ability. When you first throw the treehouse, it's tiny. Once the tree finds a firm, steady place, it starts to grow. In about 3 seconds, you have a giant tree with a treehouse inside. You can use the inside house as a hangout, a base, or just a place to mess around with. Earlier, me and my friend were messing around with the tree, and here are some things that we found (glitches);

1.) You can get stuck inside the tree, and then move around, controlling it. You look like you are controlling a giant tree monster. If somebody uses the Human Rocket gear on you, the treehouse will start flying around the map.

2.) The treehouse can be destroyed, and it does not look pretty. So far, the gears that I know can destroy it are the Gravity Gun and Bear Mine Gun (if you know any others please tweet me @pbjmsRBLX so I can add them here)

Price: 8/10

This gear is priced at 300 Robux, honestly a bit expensive for a gear that doesn't do much unless you buy it just for messing around with the two glitches above. The gear was timed, and went off sale Sunday, June 23rd, with about 2,700 sales. It accumulated the most sales out of the other 3 gears released Saturday morning that went off sale the same time as the treehouse. 300 Robux is not worth it, though. If you bought it, you honestly wasted your money, as it is a really pointless gear.

Compared to.. (7/10)

Coral Boa Boa (Better than Treehouse)

Coral Boa Boa
Coral Boa Boa is a nice boa hat release in 2011. It goes great with many other gears, and makes as a nice pet for any role-players. It's a better buy than the treehouse honestly, as it looks nice with most hats and is a great pet if you're feeling lonely.

Astral Isle Apprentice (Better than Treehouse)

Astral Isle Apprentice
Astral Isle Apprentice is a package released a few months ago. It is once again a great role-playing package, as it could be used for wizard games, or retextured to be a "dark wizard" or something. Once again, it's better than the treehouse, as it is actually pretty useful.

RAIG Table (Better than Treehouse)

RAIG Table
RAIG Table is a great gear. Yes, it is better than the treehouse. Once used a table spawns before you, and you lift it, and throw it, table-flipping. As you flip the table, a pretty funny face gets put on you, and you start to scream. Any player you hit gets flung, it's a funny gear, and a lot better than the treehouse.

Overall: 8/10

This treehouse is a really pointless gear. Unless you bought it to mess with the glitches, it's honestly a waste of your money. It was priced at 300 Robux, but went off sale about two days later. The mesh and texture have flaws, disregarding the flaws, the treehouse looks nice. Compared to other items with the same price, there are really a lot of other items that are worth your money.

~pbjms 

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The 2nd Annual RN Sword Fighting Tourney!

The tournament is literally around the corner now, and time sure has flown by! Last year we had a blast, however this time around I want everyone and myself to have more fun than last year! Exclamation points will be used in this article and during the tournament, so be ready!

In this article, I will announce the matches, this means I will announce who faces off against who. It can be anyone, as it is randomized. I will also remind you of the dates and times for every single match. Are you ready? Here it goes, the official matches for the tournament of the year 2013!!

Official bracket: http://challonge.com/the2ndannualsftourneypart1

July 1, 2013 from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm PST
Match 1: TXrangers222 vs Arbirator.

Match 2: DarkGenex vs YellowTide

Match 3: LOLFUNNY12345 vs Jason8745

July 3, 2013 from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm PST
Match 4: DxandJohnCena vs Chubbs21

Match 5: ianLiu12345 vs Zakary99

Match 6: thetwinkie18 vs BYE

July 5, 2013 from 11:00 am - 11:30 pm PST
Match 7: Robloxer032 vs BYE 4

Match 8: BYE 3 vs Alexrocks911

Please make sure you can show up to the matches, if not, you can reschedule as long as your opponent agrees. If no agreement can be reached, then there's nothing we can do about it, sorry.

Match Place: http://www.roblox.com/Roblox-News-Sword-Fighting-Tournament-2013-place?id=51431965

What does the "BYE" mean? That means that you don't have to show up to your match until next time. You automatically move on! Congratulations!

Details: http://arbirator-robloxnews.blogspot.com/2013/06/july-sword-fighting-tournament-2013.html

Thank you for reading. Anything in bold is emphasized as important. If you don't understand any thing, automatic DQ.
~Dx

Rant Review: Despicable Me 2!

Just to clarify, before I start this ridiculous series of moaning and groaning I would like to point out that this game is not despicable me, and contains false advertising; therefore you should report this game for false advertising. Now, this game changed it's name during the writing of it's review, it can now be found as '1,000 ways to die!'


Recently, I have noticed that games, such as this game have had their title changed by their "creators" just for a quick scheme of visits. I believe this should be against the rules on ROBLOX, idiots like the creator of this game taking over the front-page with random names that don't even match the objective of the game.

The objective of this game, is 'Disaster Hotel', a game that was not made by the creator, I have seen Disaster Hotel on many game accounts and I remember the first ever Disaster Hotel; it was definitely not made by 'FatAsABlock'.

The front image of the game clearly states that the game is Despicable Me 2; yet it is not. How can this be? I don't know, but I don't think creators should be allowed to change the name of their game for more visits; I think it's outrageous and unfair for those users who spend hours; hours and hours, just to create a good game for the community and yet are not noticed. I think it's pathetic, and cruel.

On this game, the GUIs lack imagery of which the user will find attractive, meaning the layout is sloppy, the textures are ugly and even with 'Ambient Occlusion' on the game still looks a mess, it's like when you see a Shark on land, it just doesn't add up or look right.

As I was saying, if the game was made by the creator of Disaster Hotel then I would be happy; even then I find the game has a lack of building, but with a real creator, I will not find it that bad. I will find it much more amusing and comfortable in it.

Disaster Hotel itself isn't a very good game all-in-all, back when it was first developed, I found it pretty fun and time-consuming, but ever since players have been stealing it and trying to make it their own as well as a quick scheme for ROBUX, it has become a game I really do not appreciate. As it has too many copies and too many players visit the copies; I've forgotten the original creator's name, but I do remember the original game when it was on it's first version.

Scripting: 0/10
I do not like people who do not create games by themselves.

Building: 0/10
Bro, do you even build?

Overall: 0/10
All-in-all I find this game very annoying and false. Do not play it, and report it for it's false advertising.

[UPDATE]: This game has now been content deleted, I believe the moderators have discovered the false advertising as I reported this game yesterday.


Thanks for reading,
~Zakary Wilson

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Hat Review: Midnight Blue Sparkle Time Fedora

Midnight Blue Sparkle Time Fedora
Midnight Blue Sparkle Time Fedora
Mesh/Texture: 10/10
The mesh is the same as every other sparkle time fedora. Still just as classic, still just as awesome-looking. The only difference from any other sparkle time fedora is the coloration. This sparkle time fedora is midnight blue, a very dark shade of blue. It appears to be darker at the bottom than at the top, the top lighter and more sparkly. The band is silver like with every other sparkle time. Although it is definitely the worst-looking of any sparkle time fedora, it looks just as amazing as any.

Price: 10/10
Although the original price was 5x as much as any other sparkle time fedora at a whopping 50,000 robux and its usual 100 stock, nobody can deny that it profited just as well. It sells for prices of 250,000+ robux, and was traded for Green Sparkle Time Fedora+ the day it was released. Although this is just because of the hype over it and Green Sparkle Time Fedora will soon pass it, being older. Midnight Blue Sparkle Time Fedora took much longer to sell out than most expected, about 10 minutes time. One reason is because all of the bots tracking it were expecting it to be 10,000 robux, and when it came out at the price of 50,000, the bots did not process the transaction. The same happened with users. Everybody was expecting it to be 10,000 robux and sold just enough of their items to get 10,000 robux, and when it happened to be 50k those people didn't have enough and had to just sit back and watch as it sold out, sadly.

Overall: 10/10
Sparkle Time Fedoras, no matter what the color or price, are always awesome and profitable hats, and this was no different. You can be expecting an Orange Sparkle Time Fedora at some point later this year, most likely around halloween, to complete the sparkle time collection. Like every sparkle time fedora, MBSTF will continue raising in value nonstop, so get one while you can.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Review: Underneath the Ground

JoshtheLego has certainly done some interesting games in the past, such as Abandoned: The Subway Dare, and Inspecting a Mystery: House of Fun, Underneath the Ground is no different to his previous games, although this reminds me more of Abandoned since it has that "adventure" feel to it. But, let's delve into this shall we?

Gameplay
Without spoiling too much, the story of the game is pretty simple. The player has been lead underground by the roars of a beast, and has decided to follow them with no turning back. Underneath the Ground is what you could call a puzzle game, I suppose.

What you'll be mostly doing in the game is traversing each section and looking for the 6 digit code hidden in the environment or plain sight. The game may seem pretty easy by the first level, but it gets harder quickly. After you finish a level, you'll get another part of the story, and there's also a nifty "clue" sheet you can use to put down what you have of a code so far.

Creativity
There need to be more games like Underneath the ground, they tell and story and present their mechanic, with no strings attached.

But is being stuck underground a creative concept? Not exactly, but I do praise the game for not doing down a "horror" route.


Building
The building style could be described as minimalist in a way, but that is by no means bad since the way it's done really helps the game out in the cosmetic department. Dynamic Lighting is also featured, which looks good especially in this shot featured in the game's "gallery".


The Good, and the Bad

The only flaw I could find in the game is the length, but that could be solved in a possible sequel.

Class Dismissed.
Conclusion

Underneath the Ground could be summed up as an experience. It's not exactly what I would call "groundbreaking", but the amount of care that was put into the scenery easily thwarts the building in a few games I've seen lately.

So, if you have some time to spare, plunge into Underneath the Ground.




Sunday, June 23, 2013

Midnight Blue Shaggy Review


Hello, pbjms here with another hat review. Today I'm reviewing one of the big limiteds during the mid summer nights sale, Midnight Blue Shaggy. It was released at 1:00 A.M. PST, which is 4:00 A.M. for people on the East Coast, so many were angry with the time of the release. Due to it being a Limited U item, when I do "Compare To..." I will compare it to items within range of the Recent Average Price (RAP) and the lowest price (30,000 - 40,000 Robux).


Midnight Blue Shaggy
Mesh: 9/10

The Mesh is okay, but not the greatest. It's the original shaggy mesh used in Shaggy and Rainbow Shaggy. I never liked the mesh, though. It's a hairpiece with folded over hair towards the front. The original shaggy is usually called an "Oder hat," yet Rainbow Shaggy is a very expensive, rare hat, using the same mesh, that is a great hat. This shaggy's mesh once again is the same as the others, possibly "Oder hair 2.0" or something. It's not all bad, though. It goes well with a lot of hats, but has a flaw with some. Some hats, like the Midnight Blue Sparkle Time Fedora do go well with this hair, except for some hair leaking through the fedora rim. All in all, it's not a bad mesh, besides the "Oder hair" issue.

Texture: 8/10

I'm not the biggest fan of this texture. It's the original shaggy with some dark blue hue. You can tell not much effort was put into it, as it clearly looks like it was just a recolor. I bet if a random user made this they wouldn't get the greatest reviews on the texture. It's not the greatest, but it goes well with some other hats (like the overpriced Midnight Blue Sparkle Time Fedora released an hour after this hat). It's sloppy, but it manages to keep the original shaggy feel to it.

Price: 11/10

Whats great about this hat, is the price. It originally sold for 1,000 Robux with 500 in stock. Usually items at this price and stock wouldn't do to well. Most likely due to the amazing success of Rainbow Shaggy, this sold out very quickly. It's now priced around 32,000 Robux, giving original buyers 20,000 Robux profit if it sells. Sadly, the RAP is only about 30,000 Robux, so chances are this item will lower in value. If you want to buy it, wait. The price is probably the best part about this hat, so amazing it got a 11/10. It went 1,000 Robux to 40,000 Robux in about a day.

Compare to... (10/10)




Warthuthu (Worse than Shaggy)
Warthuthu is a classic hat made back in 2009. It's RAP is 13,320 Robux but it's lowest price is 35,714 Robux, making it a projected item. Projected items are items that are usually bought and deleted by Robloxians, so over time, their RAP is a lot less than what people are selling it for. Projected Items are not good investments at all, making this item worse than Midnight Blue Shaggy.

Captain's Flintlock (Worse than Shaggy)
Once again, another projected item. Captain Flintlock was created in 2009. It's selling for 39,997 Robux, yet it's RAP is only 10,414 Robux, as I said with Warthuthu, projected items are awful investments, making this item worse than Midnight Blue Shaggy. 

Sheriff Wilson (Worse than Shaggy)
Are all items in this price range projected? Honestly...
Sheriff Wilson is majorly projected. It's lowest price is 39,800 Robux, yet it's RAP is only 1,681 Robux. This item is terribly projected, so once again, it's worse than Midnight Blue Shaggy.

Overall: 9.5/10

Midnight Blue Shaggy is a great item. It's looks aren't the best, but it's price (even if it may lower a bit - which by the looks of it, it will) is amazing. Compared to other items in it's price range, this hat is probably one of the only ones that isn't projected. If you were up late Friday night and snagged this hat, I'd try to sell it now, because it will most likely lower a little bit.

~Pbjms


Saturday, June 22, 2013

Frenemy Hat Review


Frenemy

I’m truly sorry; I do not have a quote for this.
There are no quotes about a head skewered on a pike that attaches at your neck.
But Dave Barry probably said something about it.

Mesh- 8/10 This is simple. I’m not sure if it is really a custom mesh. It looks like a HeadMesh with two cylinders. There isn’t much more to say about it, but it does suit its strange purpose. 

Texture- 9/10 I’m uncertain about this. The texture is simple, just like headrow and headstack. It’s cool. Plain colour textures are often just as effective as the detailed ones. ROBLOX should make more hats like this. 

Other- 10/10 This is a classic. I mainly wrote this article so people could know about the strange hat. It goes perfect with headstack and headrow. The whole item is weird. It’s called Frenemy, not Headsomething. The description talks about parasites, and it strange.
A strange Hat.

Overall- 10/10 Such a weird thing.

-RayMan36

 “Don't you wish you had a job like mine? All you have to do is think up a certain number of words! Plus, you can repeat words! And they don't even have to be true!”

Interview with alexrocks911!

Today I bring you an interview with alexrock911; an avid forumer with 5922 posts to his name (as of writing). The theme of today's question revolves around improving the ROBLOX experience. 

alexrocks911Q. When did you join ROBLOX? What were your first thoughts of the game? 
A. I joined in the early 2012. My friend recommended ROBLOX to be and I decided to give it a shot! My first thoughts of this game, It was making a good impression. I felt welcome by most users. It was a fun game and still is!


Q. What was the most enticing aspect of the site when you first joined? Why?
A. Well, I think the Games and Forum were the most entricing aspect when I first joined. Games on the front page were good back then and they were very convincing to play. The Forum was a fun aspect of the site, I met new friends there, had fun with other robloxians. And hey! I bet you'll run into me if you forum in ATR!


Q. What did ROBLOX offer that other MMOs and sandboxes didn't?
A. ROBLOX offered Premium Membership that gives you cool features that you'll TOTALLY enjoy. The front page of games is something only ROBLOX has. (Well, I think, lol.) ROBLOX features exclusive benefits if you have Builder's Club.. including Daily Robux, Personal Servers, Abilities to sell items, MORE ACTIVE PLACES, Make Shirts & Pants, Advertise, and a LOT more.


Q. Do you believe seasonal/holiday ROBLOX events benefit the ROBLOX community? Why? 
A. Yes, I believe seasonal/holiday ROBLOX events benefit the ROBLOX community. It helps robloxians be more "excited" about the holiday.
EXAMPLE: ROBLOX Egg Hunt 2013 - Users had to find eggs. The holiday was for Easter. I think ROBLOXians got more intrigued to participating in the ROBLOX Event AND the real life holiday. Pretty Fun!


Q. What recent new release has had the greatest positive impact on ROBLOX?
A. I think Dynamic Lighting had a MASSIVE positive impact on ROBLOX. Most of the games on ROBLOX have Dynamic Lighting, they're pretty cool too!
(Hey - If you're going to make a Dynamic Lighting place: Try it out with Personal Servers and Terrain. Mines is coming out great so far)


Q. If you were a ROBLOX client engineer for the day, what would you add to Studio 3.0 to improve user experience? 
A. I would add a Mesh Importer GUI. Like you open it up, There will be 2 buttons, A "Choose Mesh File" and a "Choose Texture File". Yes, it would be a plugin users would have to download. I would also add a faster way to load Basic Objects.
EXAMPLE: You quickly type in in the command bar, "load Script" or "load BoolValue".


Q. If you were a member of ROBLOX's customer service team, how might you improve their service? 
A. I would improve ROBLOX's customer service. It would be faster to get a response. There would be more actual people at info@roblox (Not the bots - As you all hate). There would be a queue list. Before sending your issue/concern, there would be a 5 star rating. (red stars). If you have 5 stars (VERY IMPORTANT), it would be moved up in the Queue. If you put a 1 star rating, you would be at the end of the queue list since it's not a HUGE concern or anything like that.


Q. What effect do you believe the recent multiple limited copy feature had on the ROBLOX economy?
A. I think it was a good idea. There are pros and cons about it.
PROS: More of the same limited, more profit, you can trade more of the same limited.
CONS: Hoarders who buy a lot of the same limited and project the limited. 

[oh and Merely, if you're reading this - Stop hoarding. You're just wasting robux. ;)] 


Q. If you were to add new materials to Studio 3.0, what would they be?
A. A better script design. Like, when you open a script, there will be a help button on the top left corner. When you open it, It will open up a little popup with a few basic commands like this:
"if then - These statements are to check if this is CORRECT, then [this happens]
end - Ends this/these script(s)
wait() - Waits a few seconds/minutes until something happens. You can insert a number in the parenthesis"


Q. Where do you see ROBLOX in 5 years time? 
A. I see it upgrading a lot. I see better moderation, better ideas, more contests, more moderators to keep the community safe. And a lot of fun! In General - I think ROBLOX in 5 years would be great. I will definitely be there in 5 years to check it. Cya!



Thanks for reading!

-Arbirator
Editor of Roblox News